On Saturday, Nov. 4, Escalon cross country runners headed to the Calaveras Fairgrounds to compete in the Subsection Meet.
While the entire section was present, the Cougar squads were racing among the other Division 4 schools to earn a spot in the Section race. In the varsity races, the top 10 teams and top individuals not on those teams advance. And for all other levels, the top six teams and top 10 individuals advance.
The day started with both freshman boys qualifying as individuals, Kenneth Vargas in 14:05 and Luke Konradi in 14:26.
The sophomore boys ran in a separate race with top finishers including Theodore Harp in 14:40, Matix Trimble in 15:27, and Brenden Berchtold in 16:25.
The frosh/soph girls finished fourth to qualify as a team. Leigh Garside (17:12), Athena Quiroz (17:33), Carli Jones (17:47), Jenn-Alexis Barrera (18:48), Therese Morales-Yapo (18:50), Jaslene Rodriguez (19:14) and Ashley Flores (19:15) move on to the Section event.
“Moving on to the JV races, junior Jake Sawyer finished in 22:10, over a full minute faster than his previous best time on the course,” noted head coach Michael Bower. “The JV girls then took the last team qualifying spot, finishing sixth.”
Juniors Jocelyn Espinoza (26:55), Emma Berchtold (26:56), Kali Castellanos (29:58), Lillian Brasil (29:58), Isabella Podwinski (33:20) and seniors Faith Reyes (31:52) and Kaleia Jones (34:14) all advance to the Section race.
The varsity boys finished 11th as a team, one spot out of qualifying. But they did have two individual qualifiers for sections in seniors Andrew Morales (17:18, 10th overall) and Jose Calderon (17:54). The rest of the team was rounded out by junior Daniel Bagadiong (18:30), senior Marcos Grajeda (19:44), freshman Conner Jones (20:15), junior Nate Millard (21:10) and senior Jacob Beneux (22:24).
The varsity girls finished 12th as a team, missing out on a qualifying spot but also had two individual qualifiers: freshman Kylie Fast (21:26, 12th overall) and Victoria Calderon (23:50). The team was balanced out by sophomore Madelyn Fahey (25:34), senior Destiny Reyes (26:47) and junior Charlotte Shaddix (28:13).
“All in all, 26 kids set a personal best time for the course and we had a total of 20 kids qualify for the Section race on November 11th at Folsom High School,” Bower said.
At the Section race, runners will have a chance to move up in the rankings from this week, while the varsity runners also have the opportunity to qualify for the state meet. After identifying the teams that qualify for state, the top five individuals not on those teams will also qualify for the state meet.
“It has been fun to watch this group grow as a team over the last few months. They genuinely care about one another and are ready to celebrate each other’s success. They all joined this team with their own story, whether very athletic or just dragged here by a friend, they have embraced the opportunity to learn and to grow,” explained Bower. “Some kids were sick or hurt (Saturday), but they still wanted to show up and support one another. I am very proud with how they have all done. Even though our varsity teams missed out on advancing, they performed admirably and we still have several runners who have earned their spot to race again. This is a special group of kids, and I am proud to have the opportunity to coach them.”
